Railroad tie



- March 18, 1930 w. R. HEWITT RAILROAD T IE Filed Dec. 29., 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l ill WQ wa/nv 7? M BY M W A/ ATTORNEYS.-

INVENTOR.

March 18,1930. w. R. HEWITT 1,751,156

RAILROAD TIE Filed Doc. 29, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IVI "IIII. I

/4 INVENTOR.

' w www 73M I TTORNEYS.

"1111, I I I l Patented Mar. 18, 1930 UNITED STATES WILLIAM R. HEWITT, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

RAILROAD TIE Application filed December 29, 1928.

My present invention relates to metallic railroad ties and more particularly to improvements in the type of tie disclosed in my copending application Serial Number 237,439,

filed December 3, 1927.

An object of my invention is to provide a metallic tie which will have all of the advantageous characteristics of a metallic tie and at the same time possess the desirable characteristics of a wooden tie.

A further object of my invention is to provide in a railroad tie of the above character, means whereby the wearing parts thereof may be readily replaced to thereby renew its effectiveness without removing the tie from the road bed.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improvement in construction of the metallic portions of my tie whereby a limited amount of resiliency and free movement is imparted to the metallic structure.

A further object of my invention is to provide in metallic tie construction, an arrangement whereby certain parts thereof are made flexible and at the same time of such construction that fracture due to fatigue will be reduced to a minimum.

It is well known that the most acceptable railroad ties of to-day are of wood, but wooden ties are getting more and more expensive as the sources of supply are becoming depleted and the cost of overhauling and renewing wooden ties is becoming so high that railroads to-day are adopting every possible means to reduce this cost. One resort has been to the use of preservatives to prolong the life of the tie to thereby reduce to a minimum the number of removals required, and another is in the replacement of wooden ties with ties of 49 metallic and concrete construction. Having in mind the acceptability of wooden ties, I have provided by my present invention a metallic tie which, in combination with a wooden filler, will serve the purpose and function similar to a wooden tie in so far as Serial No. 329,138.

tary construction and in which the several parts thereof are secured together by means of suitable hinges so that relative movement between the parts for the purpose of providing a yielding structure is possible.

Among the many advantageous features of these forms of construction is the fact that the amount of wood required will be reduced to a great extent and, becaues of the particuA lar construction, this particular required amount of wood will have a longer life for the reason that the metallic portions of the tie will protect the same against undue wear. In this connection it should also be pointed out 1 that, at the present time in renewing wooden ties, the entire tie must be withdrawn and discarded, whereas, when a tie constructed in accordance with my invention is used, it will only be necessaryto withdraw the particular filler block from either end of the metal portion and install a new one. This operation may be successfully carried out without dislodging the tie from the road bed or dislodging the rails in any manner.

F or a better understanding of my invention, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings, wherein I have show-n by way of illustration and not of limitation, preferred forms of metallic ties which embody the improved aspects of my invention.

In these drawings Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a railroad tie out the use of spikes.

showing the wooden core in place and a portion of rail secured thereto;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary, sectional view in elevation taken along the longitudinal center line of the tie shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along line IIIIII of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of arrows; I

Fig. i is a perspective View of a Wooden core member r Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing modified form'of my invention;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view in elevation taken along line VIVI of Fig. 7, looking in the direction of arrows, and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary, sectional View in elevation taken along the longitudinal center line of the tie shown in Fig. 5.

In Fig. l of the drawings, which shows one'embodiment of my invention, 10 designates a hollow, metallic body member of rectangular cross section which is open at both ends. Formed in the sides of the body mem-' ber 10 there are shown cut-away portions 11 which project toward the middle of the tie and extend beneath the point where the rails engage the tie so as to permit a limited amount of resiliency at this point. At the point where the rail engages the tiemember 10, I provide upwardly projecting bolts 12 which are adapted to cooperate with clamping plates 13 to secure the rail to the tie with- VVhere it is desired to insulate the rails, an" insulating member 13 may be placed under the clamping plates 13 and the bolts 12 may be insulated with bushings, as is standard practice. Located beneath the bolts 12 and projecting into the tie at both ends, I provide filler blocks 14 which, in the drawings, are shown of rectangular shape and of wood. "Ihese blocks are ofsuch a size that they extend into the ends of the tie a'distance substantially equal to the length of the cut-away portions 11 and completely fill the space between the top and bottom sides of the tie so that, when in operation, they will function to carry the load imposed upon the tie as the flexible portions thereof yield, as will hereinafter appear.

In addition to the'above, I also provide, as a feature of improvement, a corrugation or raised portion 15 which extends over the upper half of the body member 10 between the inner ends of the oppositely disposed cutaway portions 11. This corrugated portion 15 is adapted to impart a limited amount of flexibility to the projecting upper end portion of the tie so that the latter may yield and cooperate with the underlying filler block 14 which is arranged thereunder, as suggested above.

In my above referred to copending application, I have shown a tie having many of the above features of design, but with respect to the last above mentioned feature there is a rugated portion is stated to be for the purpose of renderlng the t1e more flexible, I.

desire to point out that this flexibility was imparted to the tie in a manner different from that contemplated by my present invention,

.wherein the corrugated portion extends over the upper half portlon of the tie and is lo-' cated immediately at the ends of the inward ly projecting cut-away portions 11 so that Y flexibility will be imparted to only aport-ion of the metallic structure of thetie at the point where the greatest need for such flexibility occurs. As a result of this arrangement, it will be seen that the remainingpor tion of the tie will remain rigid and that as a load is imposed upon the rails, it will be only the upper extending half portion of the tie which will flex as the filler blockla is compressed.

In the embodiment of my invention illustrated in Figs. 5, 6, and 7 I show the'main body member of my tie designated by the numeral 16 as having completely detached or-cut-away end portions 17 which are movably secured thereto by means of suitable hinges 18. lVith a tie of this construction it will be seen that the possibilities of fracture of the tie due to frequent flexings will be entirely eliminated as the hinge will permit an unlimited amount of movement of. the end members 17 without straining the fibres of any portion of the tie. With a'tie of this construction, where it is desired to insulate,

the rails from each other and from the tie, it will be possible to omit the insulating member 13 referred to in connection with Fig. 1 and substitute this insulation beneath the hinge 18. Such insulation is designated by the numeral 19 in Fig. 7 of the drawings, it being understood that, in connection with this insulation 19, the bolts 20, which secure the hinge in place, are properly bushed with additional insulating bushings 21.

held in its proper cooperative position with respect to the tie, I provide at the outer end a depending lip 22 which will serve to prevent the filler block working out of the tie and at the inner end there are provided additional lips 23 which prevent the fillerblock from moving into the central part of the tie.

With this arrangement, the renewal of a.

In order that the filler block 14: will be within the tie without the use of further securing means.

In addition to the above refinements, I also provide outwardly projecting angle pieces 2% which are secured to the sides of the tie near the ends and at a point below the cutaway portions 12 which function to prevent a creeping of the tie endwise in the ballast.

From the above it will be seen that I have provided a metallic tie which will posses all of the characteristics of a wooden tie and at the same time be of such construction that the danger of fracture from fatigue due to continued use is reduced to a minimum and while it might appear from the above description and drawings that my tie is of cast material, I desire to have it understood that it may be constructed of rolled or drawn metal or it may be fabricated of various well known structural steel forms and it should be also understood that various other changes may be made in the construction and shape of the tie without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention as defined in the I claims appended hereto.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A railroad tie comprising a hollow metallic body member, filler blocks of fibrous material within the ends of said body member extending beneath the rails, cut-away portions in the vertical parts of said body member adjacent said blocks, whereby the weight upon the rails will be supported by said blocks, and means cooperating with said cut-away portions adapted to prevent fracture of said tie from frequent flexing.

2. A railroad tie comprising a hollow metallic body member, filler blocks of fibrous material within the ends of said body member extending beneath the rails, cut-away portions whereby the ends of said body member may be compressed and permit said filler blocks to carry the load, and means cooperating with said cut-away portions adapted to render the rail supporting portions of the tie more flexible. 4

3. A railroad tie comprising a hollow body member of rectangular cross section having a rigid central portion and cut-away portions in the side walls and ends thereof, and corrugations extending across the upper half of the tie and between the ends of said 3 cut-away portions whereby the upper extending end portions of the tie will be rend ered flexible.

47. A railroad tie comprising a hollow metallic body member of rectangular cross sect-ion having cuts extending into the side walls thereof from each end, and means cooperating with said cuts adapted to render the upper portions of the ends of said tie resilient.

5. A railroad tie comprising a unitary hollow body member of rectangular cross section having horizontally extending'cut-away 7 portions in the side walls thereof which divide the ends of said metalic body member into upper and lower projecting halves,

filler blocks of fibrous material in the ends of said tie between said projecting halves, and a corrugation extending from the inner ends of said cut-away portions over the upper part of tie, whereby the projecting upper half at the ends of the tie will be rendered movable with respect to the remaining portion.

WILLIAM R. HEWITT. 

